The country will put three minors on trial for allegedly murdering another child, a provincial prosecutor said, in a case that has shocked the nation and sparked public debate over the treatment of juvenile offenders.
The three suspects, all aged under 14 at the time of the murder, are accused of bullying a middle-school classmate surnamed Wang over a long period before killing him last month.
The grim details of the case, in which the killers reportedly buried Wang’s body in an abandoned greenhouse, drew public attention to how the law deals with juveniles accused of serious crimes.
In 2021, China lowered its age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 for “special cases” such as inflicting death by “extremely cruel means”.
The Hebei case is thought to be one of the first to apply the lower age limit. — AFP
